What’s Handball by Benny Majer
My favorite sport is handball. Before I came to the United States, I was hoping that there was a handball team here that I could play on, but it turns out that there is not only no team, but also almost nobody here knows what it is. Because of that, I wanted to tell you a bit about handball.
Modern handball was first played in 1917 in Berlin, Germany. It’s mostly played in Europe, where it is the third most popular sport. You could say that it’s kind of a mix of soccer, basketball, football, and other sports.
In handball, two teams try to pass and throw a ball into the opposite team's goal using their hands. Each team has 6 outcourt players and 1 goalkeeper. A handball field is about twice the size of a basketball field with a goal on each end. The goals are about half the size of soccer goals and around the goals there’s a 20ft zone (semicircle) where only the goalkeeper is allowed in, so goals have to be scored by either throwing the ball on the outside of the circle or by jumping in the circle and throwing before your feet reach the ground. If you get the ball, you can either shoot the ball, pass the ball to your teammates, or keep possession of it. Similar to basketball, you can walk three steps with the ball; after that, you either pass the ball or dribble it. As long as you dribble the ball, you can make as many steps as you want to. Once you pick the ball up again, you can take three more steps.
To defend attacking players, you are allowed to use your hands to either push them, cling your arms around them, or simply take the ball away from them. Pushing and clinging often results in a foul being called, but this is very common in handball and won’t lead to a player suspension unless it’s very rough and with the intention to actually hurt each other.
One handball game consists of two 30 minute periods. Unlike soccer, the clock gets paused if it’s interrupted by, for example, a foul, but doesn’t get paused after a team scores a goal as they instantly do the kick off and keep playing. Each team can take two 1-minute timeouts per half, which allows the players to get some water, rest, and talk about their tactics. Also, the teams can substitute their players as often as they want to. If they wish, they can also take out their goalkeeper to put another outcourt player on the field to have a one player advantage.
Last week, the Handball World Cup ended with France as the winner, Denmark in second, and Sweden in third place.
Modern handball was first played in 1917 in Berlin, Germany. It’s mostly played in Europe, where it is the third most popular sport. You could say that it’s kind of a mix of soccer, basketball, football, and other sports.
In handball, two teams try to pass and throw a ball into the opposite team's goal using their hands. Each team has 6 outcourt players and 1 goalkeeper. A handball field is about twice the size of a basketball field with a goal on each end. The goals are about half the size of soccer goals and around the goals there’s a 20ft zone (semicircle) where only the goalkeeper is allowed in, so goals have to be scored by either throwing the ball on the outside of the circle or by jumping in the circle and throwing before your feet reach the ground. If you get the ball, you can either shoot the ball, pass the ball to your teammates, or keep possession of it. Similar to basketball, you can walk three steps with the ball; after that, you either pass the ball or dribble it. As long as you dribble the ball, you can make as many steps as you want to. Once you pick the ball up again, you can take three more steps.
To defend attacking players, you are allowed to use your hands to either push them, cling your arms around them, or simply take the ball away from them. Pushing and clinging often results in a foul being called, but this is very common in handball and won’t lead to a player suspension unless it’s very rough and with the intention to actually hurt each other.
One handball game consists of two 30 minute periods. Unlike soccer, the clock gets paused if it’s interrupted by, for example, a foul, but doesn’t get paused after a team scores a goal as they instantly do the kick off and keep playing. Each team can take two 1-minute timeouts per half, which allows the players to get some water, rest, and talk about their tactics. Also, the teams can substitute their players as often as they want to. If they wish, they can also take out their goalkeeper to put another outcourt player on the field to have a one player advantage.
Last week, the Handball World Cup ended with France as the winner, Denmark in second, and Sweden in third place.